BOOM! Kids has done a bang-up job of rolling out books featuring readily accessible stories of the world-famous characters from the Pixar films, and “Finding Nemo” is no exception. Everything a new reader needs to know happens right here, no previous experience necessary. Except the “right here” of this issue drags on a bit.

Raicht and Smith do a good job of capturing the voices of the characters from the film, from Dory’s eagerness and unmatched forgetfulness to Marlin’s excessive need for rules and order. The story itself, however, seems formulaic and a bit stale. There’s the requisite harrowing adventure, the embarrassing introduction to a new character and the not-quite-so-happy ending.

My expectations might have been set extremely high, but it truly is Pixar’s fault that they are that high. Well, that combined with several issues of “The Incredibles” being co-penned Mark Waid. That said, this issue didn’t actually disappoint me as such, so much as it didn’t find its way to my expectations.

Taken as a comic primarily targeted for kids, this issue is good, but as an all ages read, it needs a little more oomph.

Jake Myler’s art is well-suited to this story, and carries a coloring-book-worthy line quality to it. The characters here are unmistakable and the new characters introduced are well-defined from their first appearance and maintained masterfully throughout this issue. Considering those new characters are sea life, making this distinction early on is a sign of Myler’s abilities. Myler throws some uncertainty into the shark scare, giving the attackers a less defined appearance and opening the scenes up by minimalizing the backgrounds and detail.

I like that BOOM! continues to push these Pixar characters into adventures our way, but some of the characters might be better served in limited doses, perhaps as back-ups in other stories, akin to the Pixar shorts that precede the feature films. Those shorts rarely enhance the story that follows, but can be enjoyed in their own for what they are.

This issue seemed like a shallow fish tank for me; Perhaps “Nemo” would be more enjoyable as a series of shorter tales.